Whose Armour Are You Wearing?

“Too many of us end up being David in Saul’s armour. We do what everyone thinks we should do and in doing that we give up the one thing that God gave us for our own fight.” – Mike Glenn

Photo courtesy of jingvillar at www.FreeImages.com

When David first went to challenge Goliath in the now iconic battle, many of us remember that David almost went to war ill prepared (1 Samuel 17:38-39). Thankfully, David did not stay in Saul’s armour. We all know how the story ends. David, using his God-given strengths (i.e. his skill with a slingshot) and trusting in the Lord, defeated the giant. There is a principle here that carries over to Deaf ministry.

Often times, we are like David was before the battle. We fall into the trap of trying to fit into someone else’s armour. We try to be someone in ministry; not who we are. We try to preach, lead, witness, serve, and train people like someone else. We continually compare ourselves to others, whom we admire and respect, and try to live up to their style of ministry.

We can also fall into the trap of trying to live up to other people’s expectations of us. Sometimes, it is like people want us to be everywhere, know everything, and meet EVERY need they have. (If you have never read the perfect pastor joke, I highly recommend it.) We can get far too bogged down in the minutia of people’s expectations and miss out on God’s purpose for us and our Deaf ministry in our community.